Storm Fox
by Legendary-Titan
Summary: Zabuza Momochi, Kisame Hoshigaki, Raiga Kurosuki, all warriors of the 7 swordsmen of the mist. Now that Raiga has perished, his blades seek a new master, and a new master they have found in the most unlikely of persons Naru/Hina
1. Find us

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I will never own this great seires, I am doing this for free, and for you enjoyment

STORM FOX

_The mad warrior of lightning has fallen,_

_The blades now seek a new master,_

_And a new master they have found, in the most unlikely of persons;_

_A new age has begun, one of hidden strength reborn,_

_An age where a destined warrior becomes greater than his destiny ever anticipated,_

_For the warrior, now both wind and lightning are his to command,_

_Behold, the birth of the Storm Fox, behold, the Arashi __Kitsune_

* * *

"Lightning! Give me my funeral! Give me a funeral to remember!!" the man bellowed out as he plummeted down past the face of the cliff. The storm that had so willingly followed his orders in battle now obliged his one last command. Six bolts of lightning race down, striking at his body, forming a sphere around him as the electricity destroyed his earthly remains, cell by cell. A few seconds later, the sphere of lightning shrank as the body and the earthly vessel of the soul of its former master, Raiga Kurosuki, was destroyed completely, leaving not even ash.

His vision faded to black, the memory fading out like he was in some sort movie. Without warning, his vision returned, and he really wished it hadn't, for now he was looking at the absolute last place he ever wanted to be, his mindscape. The dark, damp, poorly lit hall way of his mindscape was not a place of fond memories. He had only came here two times; first when Ero-sennin knocked him off the face of a cliff, and second when he was fighting Sasuke at the Valley of the End when he entered his first 'tailed state'.

And what was worse was where he currently located in his mindscape; the hallway that he was currently viewing led to the one place he hated even more than soggy Ramen, the room that held the demon fox; the place he liked to call 'The Seal'. If he could, he would have turned away as soon as he realized where he was, just that there was one problem. He couldn't, he had no control; in fact it felt as if he didn't even have a body. He didn't have long to ponder this as he was distracted by a voice, no, two voices; it was impossible to tell if they were male or female, but both were saying the same thing.

"_Naruto…you must…"_

With a flash, his vision changed. Now he was in a hall; in front of him, Sasuke wearing his chunin final garb, in-between them were two adults decked out in inky black cloaks adorn with blood red clouds. Sasuke was on the floor, clutching his freshly broken wrist, in front of him was the shorter of the two cloak garbed men and, consequently, the cause of Sasuke's injury. Itachi Uchiha.

'_I remember what happened, after seeing Sasuke get hurt I tried to use __Kuchiyose no Jutsu when that shark guy, Kisame was it? Yeah, Kisame, drained my chakra with that freaky sword of his…'_

As if the memory responded to his thought, everything started to move, Sasuke started shaking and cradling his broken wrist as he desperately tried to dull the pain. Itachi just looked down on him with that emotionless face. With a muttered "Too slow kid" Kisame swung his massive bandaged broad sword through the reddish-orange aura that had started to envelope Naruto. Just as he remembered, he felt a sudden draining sensation as the shark man's sword devoured his chakra like Choji at an all-you-can-eat BBQ restaurant. The memory played out just as he remembered, even feeling his own confusion at the sudden loss of chakra.

"Wha…? Come on! Come on!"

Striking what he thought to be a cool pose (or as cool of a pose you can strike with a sword that looks like a super sized bandaged Popsicle, or something equally inappropriate), Kisame explained the situation to Naruto as his sword made an odd munching sound, as if it was saying 'thanks' for the chakra meal.

"My sword, Samehada, it eats chakra, so now we don't have to worry about you using any jutsu now…"

Once again his vision faded to black, returning again to the passageway leading to the seal, but father along than his previous visit. His vision seemed to be slowly progressing down the hall, moving a little closer and a little faster than before. This time the voices were a little louder, and he could now hear that there were two distinct voices; one male, one female.

"…_you must…find us…Naruto…you…"_

Another flash, this memory before him was one he would never forget, for it was the first time he felt absolute terror. From his angle, the figure standing before him looked to be a titan. Cow-hide arm and leg warmers decorated his arms and shins, while a pair of pale blue pants adorned his legs. He wore no shirt, only a belt that went around his neck and secured his massive, cleaver like zanbatō to his back. From the nose down, his face was covered in bandages, while his hitai-ate (forehead protector) rested cock-eyed on his head. But that wasn't what drew Naruto's attention, no; it was the man's eyes. Two black pits of hatred and malice overflowing with killing intent, the eyes framed by tanned skin that could only belong to one Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Mist.

Yet again the memory fades and his rate of travel towards the seal increases yet again. The voices were louder still, this time sounding urgent, almost panicking.

"_Find Us… You Must… Find Us…"_

The memories returned, but not a single memory, but many. They flashed through his mind, barley giving him enough time to recognize one before the next took its place. It continued like this each memory coming faster and faster, the memories themselves seemed to have no real order or common thread, until it finally clicked. Zabuza Momochi, Kisame Hoshigaki, Raiga Kurosuki. Those three were at one point or another part of a single organization, Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu, the Seven Shinobi Swordsman of the Mist. No sooner than Naruto arrived at this revelation did the memories stop, and his mind entered the seal.

There, standing before the gate like cage that held the Kyuubi no Youko, the nine tailed demon fox, was two figures. He couldn't see any really defining features, only their silhouettes. He could make out some features, like the fact that both had their heads down and the one on the left was male, judging by the bulk of the armor he wore. He assumed that the one on the right female, because she (if it was a she) wore a very cut down version of the armor the male wore and had a slender figure. Simultaneously, both figures raised their heads and shouted one thing:

"_FIND US!"_

After hearing the shout, he was suddenly propelled backwards, out of his mindscape. Before he was completely pushed out of his little dream world, he managed to make note of one thing: both figures had eyes the color of polished steel.

* * *

Naruto shot up from his futon, gasping and not to mention sweating up a storm. Three times now he had that same dream. He looked over to his room mates, Neji, Lee and Tenten. Normally a kunoichi wouldn't bunk with her fellow shinobi, but with Karashi and Ranmaru moving in with Sanshou-baasan in the Curry of life shop, they were short on room. Naruto snorted, Tenten liked to sleep with her hair down like Neji; so if some one were to come into the room with out prior knowledge, they would think he and Lee were sleeping with a pair of girls. After Raiga was finally defeated for the second time, Neji decided it was wise for the team to stay at the Curry of life shop to help out the miners of the Katabami Kinzan gold mine rebuild what damage the Kurosuki family had caused, that, and give them time to heal from the electrical burns they had received at the hands of Raiga's blades.

Pulling off his toothed sleeping cap, Naruto let out a long sigh; thanks to that dream/vision/thingy, what ever, he was now wide awake. He had no way to get back to sleep, and even if he could…

…_two pairs of eyes stared back at him, __both the color of polished steel; watching, waiting…_

He bolted upright, his back ram-rod straight, before violently shaking his head. Kami (god) damn it! There it was again! Naruto let out an exasperated sigh, he might as well head downstairs and get something to eat or drink seeing that they would be leaving around midday. Getting himself out of bed, he made sure not to bump Tenten (since she slept with her kunai and was rather proficient at using them, even while she was asleep!) and made his way downstairs. He didn't have to worry about making too much noise as he got up and went downstairs, not with Lee snoring like a fog horn. Making his way into the Kitchen/Dining room/Front hall area of the Curry of life shop, he was surprised to find he wasn't the only one up early today.

"Karashi, Ranmaru, what are you two doing here?" The two aforementioned people were sitting down at one of the tables, looking at nothing in particular, until Naruto spoke. They both looked a bit restless, like some one who was forced to sit in the same position for a long time, or endure one of Iruka-sensei's lectures. But at the sound of his voice, both looked up at him with smiles on their faces. Naruto could only smile in return. Over the past couple of days Karashi and Ranmaru asked Naruto to tell them stories about his encounters with the two other members of the Seven Shinobi Swordsman of the Mist. Remembering what he could from his faulty and fractured memory, Naruto had told them of his encounter of Kisame, the terror he felt when he first faced off against the Demon Zabuza. But most of his stories were about one person most of all, Haku. Naruto didn't know it, but his stories affect Ranmaru the most; to hear about someone that was so like himself, and one that had influenced Naruto to such a degree, it shook him to the core.

"Ah, Naruto-san, we were hoping to be able to talk to you before the others got up," Karashi replied "We, well… we wanted to thank you for all you've done…and umm…"

It was painfully obvious to anybody, save one knuckle-headed ninja, that Karashi was uncomfortable being the spokesmen for the two. If it was a topic that he had a lot of experience in or was passionate about, like making curry, _then_ Karashi could be _very_ talkative, but if not, well… Fortunately, Karashi was saved from embarrassing himself any further by Ranmaru.

"What Karashi-san means to say Naruto-kun is that we're thankful for you help and want to give you a gift to show our appreciation."

"Aw, guys, you really didn't have to do that…" Naruto said as he started to scratch the back of his head, his trademark 'nervous,' gesture. Karashi immediately got up and started waving his hands in the air.

"No, no, we insist! You've done a lot for us, and since you didn't find out anything about Kisame, or whatever his name is, we thought it would be best if you didn't go back empty-handed."

Naruto's hand dropped as his smile fell. He failed again. One of the main reasons he went on this mission was to find information on Kisame since he was working with Itachi. Since Sasuke wanted to kill Itachi, finding him would find Sasuke. Yet another failure to add to the growing list. Karashi and Ranmaru shared a look, in addition to the stories about Haku, Naruto had told them about his best friend and his betrayal. It was painful to see Naruto look so depressed; his face wasn't made for sadness. The only two emotions that looked natural on his face were seriousness and happiness. Karashi normally wasn't very violent, but if he ever came across this 'Sasuke' person he would make sure to ram his foot up his ass and remove it, painfully; nobody had the right to do that to such a nice guy as Naruto.

"Enough being dreary, come on Naruto-kun," said Ranmaru, breaking the teens out of their respective depression and anger, "I want you to see your gifts before we help you pack them, come here and sit down!"

Sitting down, Naruto couldn't help but notice how Ranmaru seemed excited about giving his gift for some reason or another. As he waited for Karashi to get the gifts out from under the table, he put on his best smile that he could, I mean, he should be thankful that he was getting something out of this. He was drawn from his musings when Karashi placed three packages on the table. The largest was an oddly shaped, but long, bundle wrapped in what appeared to be bandages that Naruto couldn't make heads or tails of; the second package was square and tied up neatly with twine. The third gift was unwrapped and sitting on top of the square one, and it was…

"…gloves?"

"They're the 'Blade-Gauntlets' the Kurosuki family used during their Kuro Tatsumaki, or Black Tornado technique. Here let me show you" Karashi said as he put the odd gloves on. The gloves were fingerless, had an open palm, and extended back two or three inches past the wrist. They had a thick backing on the back of the gloves where, Naruto assumed, the blade like claws were kept. "I figured that with these you could do some more damage when you start wailing on some one with your taijutsu."

Naruto nodded, that made sense, also they kinda looked cool. Karashi continued speaking.

"The palms of the glove are open and finger-less so they won't obstruct you when you perform hand-signs. Here's how they work, when you want to extend the claws, you form a fist and tense your mussels and… ha!" As predicted, the three talons shot out of the backing of the gloves, extending about seven or eight inches. "And to retract the claws, keep you fist tensed, flex your fist back and forth and presto! Here try 'em on and try 'em out!"

Karashi removed the gloves after demonstrating how to retract the claws and handed them to Naruto. Trying them on, Naruto had to admit not only did they look cool, but were damn comfortable, if a tad on the loose side. Oh well, it looked like he would just have to do some growing. He managed to get a hang of extending and retracting the claws in about seven or so minuets. Taking the gloves off and placing them to the side, he took the next gift Karashi handed him, the square one tied up with twine.

"Before you open this one Naruto, I just want you to think back to that outfit I was wearing that you said looked 'ultra-wicked-cool'." Karashi said with a sly grin, it was obvious (to all but one blond headed shinobi) now what his next gift was.

Scrunching his face up, Naruto tried to think why Karashi would mention that. He knew what he was talking about; Karashi was talking about the clothes he was wearing when he was with the Kurosuki family. He had to admit it did look cool; it had the asymmetrical look that Kurenai-sensei had and had a 'robe' feel to them with the flap hanging in the front and back. Not to mention the chest bandage thing completed the whole thing and added to the coolness of the look.

Shrugging his shoulder Naruto went back to opening his gift. When he finally opened it he froze, there in the wrapping was not one, but three sets of the uniform Karashi had been wearing. One of them was larger than the others and was obvious the one Karashi had worn, but the other two were smaller, perfectly sized for him! And the colors were different as well, what had originally been a dark violet with maroon detailing was now a dark inky black with a burnt orange lining. Naruto just couldn't believe it; he kept looking between the cloths and Karashi.

"Well, not to brag or anything, but, in addition to being a good curry chef, I'm also pretty damn good with a needle and thread," Karashi's smirk exploded into a full-blown grin, "In fact, I'm the one who made all the uniforms for the Kurosuki family! And just so you know, I included a guide on how to do the shirt wrappings." Karashi said, feeling proud of himself.

"Wow, thanks Karashi, this is awesome!" Naruto couldn't help but feel giddy, not only did he get some cool claw-gloves, but some cool clothes as well. The best part was he could keep his orange and still look awesome! He always had trouble finding clothes that looked cool but still had his favorite color in them. Up until recently, most shop-keepers would just throw him out, it was only thanks to the fact that one shop keeper was so short sighted he couldn't tell who Naruto was that he could buy his orange jumpsuits since he didn't have the money for something 'cool.' Now-a-days, though, a lot more people were accepting of him and thus, their shops were open for him to shop in without being overpriced or given very poor quality items.

Naruto was broken from his musings when he realized that Ranmaru was no longer at Karashi's side. Instead he was standing next to Naruto and he was holding the last gift in his arms. Even Naruto could see that he wanted to say something.

"Ranmaru?"

"I just wanted to say something before I give you my gift, Naruto." Taking a deep breath, Ranmaru looked Naruto straight in his eyes. "When you first tried to save me, I was confused. To me, you were a complete stranger, you had no reason to try and help me when I thought I had nothing left to live for. When you told me about Haku, I was shocked, I mean, it's scary how much we were alike. Both of us wanted to die when we felt useless, it almost feels like I know him we're so similar. And I realized why you saved me, you didn't want history to repeat it self, and you didn't want another person to needlessly suffer!"

At this point Ranmaru had to stop to shake and wipe the tears out of his eyes while Karashi openly gawked, never had he seen such emotion come from Ranmaru, ever. Wiping the remaining tears away, Ranmaru looked to Karashi. After composing himself, Karashi gave the small boy a nod, before letting him continue.

"When you told us about Sasuke and how he betrayed you, we both agreed that he was wrong. Breaking your bonds with people only makes you weaker! Karashi and I want you to prove him wrong next time you meet, so we wanted you to have this gift more than any other."

With that, Ranmaru handed Naruto the last gift and a small kunai to cut the wrappings with. Not wanting to disappoint, and a bit eager to see what Ranmaru and Karashi wanted him to have, he took the kunai and sliced the wrappings from one corner to the other. As the wrappings fell away, Karashi and Ranmaru smiled, while Naruto received the shock of his life. There, resting before him were two objects that he thought he would never see again.

The twin blades of Raiga.

Both of the blades rested there before him, almost taunting him. The two straight, single edged pike like blades look as if they had never been in battle before; not a scratch or bit of rust or corrosion on them. The unsharpened portion was a dull, unpolished steel grey while the sharpened edge was polished to a near mirror shine. Each blade had a large hook like claw with its forward/inner edge sharpened extending from the back edge of the blade near the hilt, and a smaller claw with both sides sharpened extending from the edged portion of the blade about a third of the way down from the tip. The cross-guard of the blades was unique, the guards of the swords were small and extended inward from their center, making it dangerous to try and stop an enemy sword with them. Rather, it appeared as if one had to try and block with the claws instead. The handles were long enough for both of his hands to rest comfortably on one of the sword handles, with the light brown wrapping ending about a half an inch from the prommel. The prommel it's self held a latching mechanism so the two swords could be linked together to form a sort of double bladed sword/sword quarter-staff.

Naruto kept working his jaw trying to say something, but he couldn't get anything out. What could he say, _"Wow, thanks for the blades that your dead friend used'_ or _'Gee, I hope I don't start obsessing about funerals now…'_ thankfully, for Naruto's sake, his mind was stopped before it could conjure anymore morbid responses by Ranmaru.

"Before Raiga and I came here, I remember him telling me a story about his swords…"

"Huh, a story?" Ranmaru nodded

"Yeah, he told me a long time ago that the blades weren't originally his, that he killed the man who originally held them. I remember him saying that the blades were called the Ooburi Futago, or storm twins." He paused, taking a deep breath before speaking again. "Naruto, you defeated Raiga not once, but twice. If anyone has a right to claim the sword as their own, then it's you."

"Umm, well …" Naruto, for a lack of a better term, was dumbfounded. He _did_ beat Raiga twice, once with a Rasengan and the second time with a Kage Bunshin (Shadow clone) taijutsu combo that sent him over the edge of a cliff. The only problem now was getting them back home. Tenten and Neji had asked around about the blades, to either collect or return to the mist village, respectively. Tenten stopped asking yesterday and Neji the day after Raiga's death. If either found out he had them, they would probably take the swords away. As if reading his thought, Karashi provided the solution.

"We wanted to give you the swords today because your teammates stopped asking about them yesterday, and don't worry, we have the perfect way for you to get them back home, show him Ranmaru!" Naruto watched as Ranmaru made three hand-signs, and with a muttered 'Henge' tapped the swords. A muffled 'poof' and a small cloud of smoke later, and the Ooburi Futago had been transformed into a pair of collapsible tent poles. Giving him a look, Karashi continued.

"If anyone asks, just say that when you went to pack the clothes I gave you, you found those 'tent poles' in your bag and had to take the out to fit the clothes in. Besides, why did you think I had you guys move your bags down here last night?" Karashi finished by motioning to the three bags that lay by the door. Naruto could only smile for it looked like Karashi had a bit of a pranksters mind in him.

* * *

The next morning was a hectic one. Everybody was securing around, trying to make sure that they had everything. Tenten was turning the place upside down just to make sure that she didn't forget any of her kunais, and Lee was going off on a tangent about 'the spring time of youth morning stretches' or something while performing one handed push-ups. The only people that were ready to go were Neji and surprisingly, Naruto. This slight difference from the norm would usually raise a few eyebrows, but Karashi had explained to the three why this was, but it still didn't keep Naruto from feeling nervous. His mind was plagued with worries.

'_Would Tenten realize that I have a henge on the Ooburi Futago? Will Neji see the chakra of the blades with his __Byakugan? No, that won't happen. Neji's good and all, but he didn't see that Raiga was barely alive after I beat him the first time, so that won't happen. But there's still Tenten and Lee, I know Lee won't ask anything, but Tenten might!'_

Naruto never mentioned it, but right after he cut open the wrappings that held the Ooburi Futago he felt something, like an invisible spark, jump between him and the swords. Ever since then, he felt at peace. Even the lingering guilt of Sasuke's defection to sound seemed to melt away. His thoughts seemed clearer, and he could recall his memories a little easier than before. He didn't know why, but the thought of some one taking the Ooburi Futago away from him sent chills down his spine. Luckily, Neji wasn't paying any attention to Naruto to see his nervousness; instead, he was watching the theatrics that were going on in the kitchen between Karashi, Ranmaru, and lady Sanshou. The three curry chefs stopped there argument when Lee spoke.

"Sanshou-baasan"

The three looked up. It appeared the four ninja were finally ready to leave, Tenten had found all of her kunai, and Lee had finished his 'light' morning work out. Ranmaru gave Naruto a wink that none of the other shinobi noticed.

"We'll be leaving now" everybody decided to add their thanks or good bye.

"Thanks for taking care of us" Neji

"Baa-chan, take care of Ranmaru!" Naruto said, sending Ranmaru his wink back with an added smile. Mistaking the smile for her, Sanshou-baasan smiled and raiser her ladle before replying.

"Oh my! As an heir to making my Curry of Life, I'll raise him well." Tenten decided to add in her two ryou.

"Ranmaru, Karashi, work hard." A duo of 'Hai's followed. Before they could turn to leave, Sanshou-baasan jumped onto the table with an excited look on her face.

"Oh my! It's a long way from here to Konoha." Pointing her ladle behind them she continued saying "So you can be especially strong, I've made a special batch for you! After you eat it you can set out."

Turning to see what was so special about this batch of curry, three out of the four shinobi felt a chill run down their spines at the sight of the four plates of _red_ curry sitting on the table before them.

"What's with that especially spicy-looking bright red color?!" Tenten exclaimed, remembering the effect the black variant had on her. She wasn't the only one affected.

"My eyes have gotten a bit watery" Naruto said. Lee, unfortunately, went from a look of horror to a look of pure excitement.

"It looks great, doesn't it?!" His companions decided to make a hasty retreat as Neji spoke.

"If we don't hurry back, Tsunade-sama will get angry!"

"That's right! It's a pity, but we've got to leave now." Naruto added, before helping Neji drag Lee out of the Curry of life shop. Tenten followed right behind them with a "Wait up!"

As the curry chefs stepped out to watch the retreating forms of the three shinobi, none of them realized the results of their actions. Both Ranmaru and Karashi had created a legend, simply by deciding to give the blades of Raiga to one Uzumaki Naruto. They were the origin of a hero of legend.

Behold, Arashi Kitsune, the Storm Fox.

* * *

AN: And Cut! The first chapter of my new story, I first thought of this story when I first saw the Riga arc online (in subtitles, not the dubbed version) a long time ago. I came up with a good idea and put it on the back burner so I could write my other story, Honored Predator. Note that this fic will contain elements of both Bleach and Mortal Kombat, but it is NOT A CROSSOVER, I'm just adding elements, you'll see them later.

AN2: Made a quick translation correction. please bear with me on this as I am trying a new translation style and all I have to help me is a crappy online translator, if you have a link to a high quality translator that I can use fro free, please send me a PM. same goes for betas, just send me a pm.


	2. Power Surge

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I will never own this great series, I am doing this for free, and for you enjoyment

AN: I really didn't like how I ended this chapter, so I went back and edited it. I hope you enjoy the new ending!

Chapter 2: Power Surge

_The Fox returns to his lair,_

_As the keeper watches over him_

_Soon the ceremony shall begin, and the fox will wield_

_The power of the storm;_

_Thus arise the Arashi Kitsune_

* * *

It was peaceful, in the forest. Birds twitter and fluttered to and fro, squirrels chewed on acorns, and would chitter when a rival tried to steal his nuts (get your herd out of the gutter you pervert!); fish swam lazy in a nearby stream. All in all, it was a beautiful, tranquil scene, despite the darkening weather. It is unfortunate that the tranquility of the forest was shattered when four young humans race through the tree tops on their way home. To any non-shinobi, the people would only appear as four distinct colored blurs, lavender, pink, orange, and last but not least, stretchy green. The four youths were Neji, Tenten, Naruto and Rock Lee. The four were travailing in a straight line in the aforementioned order, all wanting to get back to Konoha as quickly as they could. Since they no longer had to escort civilians, they could move through the trees at a shinobi's pace. While they all wanted to get back quickly, they all had their separate reasons.

Neji wanted to get back so he could make the mission report and then relax. It was up to him to make the report because Naruto, Lee, nor Tenten had the patience or eye for detail to do it properly. Lee (after spending a few hours mopping about 'wasting such youthful curry') wanted to tell Gai-sensei about his latest adventure and, if time allowed after their training in the springtime of his youth, see if he could ask Sakura-chan out on a date. Tenten wanted to just get home and sleep in her own bed. Sure camping out was fun, but nothing beat a nice warm bed in your own home. Naruto, strangely enough, didn't really have a reason. No, it was more like an instinct that urged him to hurry home. That wasn't to say he wasn't bored, oh no, not at all. Once a shinobi got the hang of tree jumping, it became like tree climbing and water walking, it became instinct, leaving their minds to do other things. And Naruto was bored!

He didn't want to talk to Lee because that would just cause him to do another one of his 'Springtime of Youth' speeches/rants. And after you heard one, you heard them all. This caused Naruto to wonder if Gai-sensei's 'Flames of Youth' were some twisted form of the Sandaime's 'Will of Fire' or something. He couldn't talk to Neji since he was too far up front, so that just left Tenten. Instead of trying to think of a topic to talk about, Naruto just decided to ask her the first question that came to mind.

"Ano, Tenten?"

"Hmm?" she turned to face him.

'_Well,'_ he thought, _'here goes nothing.'_

"What type of blades do you think Raiga used against us?" Tenten's eyebrows shot up into her forehead protector, of all the questions she expected the spiky headed blond to ask, that one was the least expected. She would have expected him to ask her if she ever had Ichiraku ramen or something equally unimportant, but the question he asked was, actually, rather intelligent.

"What do you mean, exactly?" Naruto scratch the back of his head as he tried to be a little more specific.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei said that both Zabuza and Kisame used Zanbatōs, but when I look it up in the dictionary, the picture they had looked nothing like what I saw Zabuza and Kisame use." Tenten nodded, now it made sense, Naruto wanted to know what type of sword Raiga used, like a katana or a ninjato. Turning to check and make sure that she wasn't going to run into a tree (doing that once was enough) she looked back and replied.

"That's kinda hard, Naruto. But if I had to hazard a guess, I would say that he used two straight, single edged kodachi style blades since they weren't long enough to be katana and were much longer than a pair of tantos; but considering their construction, they my very well have been something completely else before they were modified..." Before she could say any more, Neji interrupted.

"Naruto, Tenten, back in formation. I would like to get back before night fall, and we can't do that if one of my teammates is rendered unconscious from running into a tree. So please keep your eyes forward and your mind on dodging any trees that get in the way, you can talk about sharp and pointy things later." Tenten leveled her fiercest glare at their leader.

'_Damn it Neji, it only happened once! I didn't need you to bring it up now of all times! Especially in front of someone who didn't already know!'_ she thought _'And for the record, Mr. Know-it-all, I don't talk about 'sharp and pointy things', they're weapons damn it! Trust me; I'll get you back for that!'_ She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Neji for good measure.

"I saw that"

Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, Chuunin of Konoha, most well known as Ibiki's henchmen during the Chuunin exams, were currently dozing off. Why were they dozing off, you might ask? Simple, they were currently manning the gate keepers post. The job of manning that booth was, to some, considered a punishment; but to Kotetsu and Izumo? It was like getting a paid vacation. They rarely had to do any thing, besides checking the travel permits of unknown people entering the village, and watching the ninja arrive and depart. Today, however, something odd was happening. The weather report had said that the sky would be clear all through the week, but now, the skies began to cloud over with inky black storm clouds.

"Looks like a storms brewing" said Izumo, as he peeked his head out from under the booth. The deal was that one would be awake in order to wake the other one in case they needed two shinobi in order to take care of something. And something was coming up the road towards them. Izumo elbowed his spiky haired, bandage wearing partner.

"Unnn, huh, what's going on Izumo?"

"Take a look" Izumo said nodding towards the road. As Kotetsu wiped the sleep from his eyes, he looked down the road and saw what exactly what Izumo was referring to. There, walking towards them at a sedate pace was a man. He was wearingwaraji, or straw sandals. His body was covered in an ornate kimono robe that was colored a dark purple and had silver detailing depicting a sword wrapped up in vines. The clothes looked very comfortable, if the way he was walking was any indication. He had a pretty, aristocratic face with chin length blond, almost white, hair that when combined with his bright pinkish-red eyes and height (about a 5'8-9") made him very attractive. The only thing that marred his hansom features was the scowl that would occasionally cross his face when he looked down at his mist hitai-ate, which was tied around his neck. Once he sighted Kotetsu and Izumo, he quickly made his way over to them.

"Greetings Konoha Shinobi, I am Shashu, and I am the Mizu no Kuni (land of water) representative from Kirigakure no Sato (the hidden mist village), here on request of Tsunade-sama about news of one of the seven swordsmen." The man said while pulling a scroll out of his sleeve. Kotetsu and Izumo were floored, not only did the guy have good looks, but his voice alone would make him an instant lady-killer. It was because of their astonishment that neither of them noticed the small drop of blood on the edge of the scroll, which would show that the scroll was obtained through less than diplomatic means. The man had just put scroll back in his sleeve and was about to sign in, when he suddenly exploded into motion. Pirouetting on his left foot, he swung around brining up his hands as if to hold a bow and arrow, but stopped halfway through the motion. It appeared that four young shinobi had jumped out of the trees lining the side of the road and landed behind the mist representative, startling and provoking his response. These four shinobi were a group of familiar genin. Clearing his throat, Neji spoke.

"Team Gui and Naruto, returning from extended mission in River country." Shashu took a few steps back; it was common knowledge that local ninja took priority over foreign visitors. _'So, these are the shinobi that the Hokage sent to deal with Raiga'_ Shashu thought as he let his eyes wander over the assembled Genin, until his eyes came to rest upon Naruto, or rather, what was sticking out of Naruto's pack.

'_So, it appears that you have survived, but why are you hiding? Could it be…'_ his gaze shifted from the henged OoburiFutago to the one carrying them. _'Ahh, I see, so that is why. Don't worry, I'll play you game for now, I just hope that you have chosen wisely'_ Shashu thought as he watched the genin head off towards what appeared to be the hokage tower. Clearing his throat to grab the attention of the gate guards, Shashu decided to do a little information gathering.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me about that spiky haired, blond genin that just went by?"

"Huh, you mean Naruto? Well, he's sort of a local hero, other than that your going to have to talk to Hokage-sama." Giving a curt nod, Shashu walked off. Once he was sure he was far enough away for the chunin gate guards not to notice him, he removed his hitai-ate and, in an incredible display of strength, snapped the metal plate of the hitai-ate in two with one hand before throwing the whole thing in a near by garbage can. _'Lady Tsunade should consider herself lucky that I was able to intercept that mist ninja, if he had reach Kiri with that message then…'_ Shashu shook his head, there was no use thinking of 'what-ifs,' all he could do now was wander about for awhile before meeting with the Lady Hokage. That would probably give the Storm Twins enough time to perform the ceremony. He looked to the gathering storm clouds, _'yes; it shall indeed be a magnificent sight to behold.'_

________

"…and then we arrived back here at the village, Tsunade-sama" Neji said with a slight bow, finishing his oral mission report. As he bowed he sent Tenten a scowl. Hokage-sama did _not_ need to know that the reason he couldn't contribute much to the final battle was due to the fact that he was knocked out by ultra-spicy curry, twice. Tenten just gave him a foxy grin, _'revenge is a dish best served with a side of embarrassment or a dollop of humiliation.'_

Tsunade couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at the report. When it was officially authorize, it was a B-, borderline A-class mission because of the rumor of Raiga Kurosuki being the boss of the Kurosuki family. For them to fight him not once, but twice without sustaining a single causality was miraculous. Since Naruto was the one to strike the killing blow on both occasions, the (sizeable) bounty that was on Raiga's head would go to him; she would deposit it straight into his bank account. Fortunately, the last person that tried something funny with Naruto's savings was ratted out and old Sarutobi-sensei had executed the perpetrator by slow torture to serve as an example to the masses. Continuing with the report, Tsunade had to commend both Naruto and Neji on their plan to draw out the Kurosuki family and determine the extent of their powers; the double layered Kage Bunshin and Henge no jutsu was genius. The news of the boy called Ranmaru and his was a surprise; his abilities were no doubt one of the many 'lost' Kekkei Genkai (bloodline limits) that was wiped out in the land of water. It was for the best that the boy no longer had a desire, or capability to be a shinobi, otherwise the Hyuuga clan would be all up in arms. All in all, Tsunade had to say the mission was an outstanding success. Looking up, she noticed that Naruto was starting to get impatient, and was visibly fidgeting.

"Thank you for the report, you're dismissed. Take the next couple of days off to relax and enjoy yourselves." With that, Naruto let out a whoop and literally ran out of the office. Lady Tsunade could only shake her head, _'kids these days, always on the move.'_

_____

As soon as Naruto left the Hokage tower, he made a bee-line to the commercial district. The reason was that Karashi had forgotten to include an obi belt with the clothes he had given him, a simple over sight, but still a major one. So, Naruto decided to take a page out of Lee's book and use his hitai-ate as a belt, the only problem was that his head band was too short; that, and he would have to get a replacement head band to keep the hair out of his eyes. He also thought about getting some shin guards to go with the new out fit like the creepy second examiner of the chunin exam wore. Besides, getting kicked in the shin really didn't feel too good.

Coming to a stop, Naruto looked around at the different shops. While he was at it, he figured he might as well stock up kunai and shuriken since he was getting low and the ones he currently had were, er-hem, 'well-used'. Stopping in the middle of the commercial district, Naruto looked around at all the shops. It was getting late and dark out so he decided to get all his shopping done in one go. Going to one of those 'super-stores' would probably not be a good idea because of the sheer size, and the fact that they also catered to civilians as well as shinobi. Instead, during their trip back Tenten advised him to go to an 'Equipment Emporium' instead of a super-store because they tailored more to shinobi customers.

Looking around, Naruto located one, the 'Yasuo's Equipment Emporium'. Entering the shop, Naruto was surprised at what the store contained. Inside was everything a shinobi would ever need, form the basic kunai and shuriken to scent removing shampoo to explosive tags, the shop had every thing he, or any ninja, ever dreamed of. It didn't appear as if anybody was around to help him, so while he waited Naruto decided to make a list of what he needed to get or replace so he wouldn't forget anything.

After a minute of writing, he had completed his list. The strange thing was what he added to the end of his list that he didn't even remember writing: shampoo. A little known fact about Naruto was that he washed his hair with soap since most shop keepers wouldn't let him in their shops to buy shampoo. The end result of that made his hair stiff and clump together into his usual thick spikes. After thinking about it, he merely shrugged his shoulders, Ino and Sakura had nice hair because they used shampoo and maybe if he tried it his hair would look and feel better. Naruto was so lost in thought, that he never noticed the man in purple robes watching him from the shop windows smile before heading towards the Hokage tower.

"Can I help you?" Naruto turned around to face the one who spoke. The man appeared to be in his late 30', maybe early 40's, with his long brown hair tied back in a low ponytail, warm amber eyes, wearing a plain tunic and a pair of brown working pants. Oh, and a name tag that read "Kaito Yasuo." Obviously, this man was the owner/operator of this emporium.

"Umm, yeah, I need to get everything on this list, please." Naruto decided that his usual loud approach wouldn't do here; the last thing he would want is to tick the guy off and get kicked out. He decided to take the advice Sakura-chan gave him a long time _'when in doubt, act polite.'_ Taking the list from Naruto, Kaito gave it a once over before quirking an eyebrow.

"Doing a post mission restock?" He asked. Naruto grinned and started scratching the back of his head before replying.

"Yep, that and a little extra!" Kaito didn't ask anything else; being a former shinobi, as well as a shop keeper, he knew not to ask about the recent mission just in case the information was classified or something bad happened on the mission that the kid would not want to bring up. He knew who the kid was, Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko, a hero at least twice over for not only holding back the Kyuubi, but stopping a rampaging Shukaku from entering and leveling the city. It was sad in the beginning how so many people mistreated him as a kid, ignoring him, glaring at him where ever he went. Kaito was proud to say that he cracked some heads when he saw people glaring at the poor kid. He respected the Yondaime Hokage's final wish, if Naruto had came into his shop when he was younger, Kaito would have made sure that the kid had a safe haven and a place to buy from without being cheated.

"All right then, if you'll allow me; I'll help you out so we can get exactly what you want without wasting any time."

An hour and a half later saw Naruto leaving the shop and heading back home with a couple of over stuffed bags under his arms and a smile that threatened to split his face in two. Not only did he get exactly what he wanted, but he got everything at half price. Kaito-san had said that while it was a one time deal, it was a just reward for all the service had had done for Konoha. Naruto's smile just got a little bigger as he raced home.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and sighed, with the help of Shizune she had finally managed to get caught up in all her paperwork. Pulling out a bottle of sake from her 'secret stash' that she had hidden away, she figured a drink would be a nice reward for finishing the paper work. She had just opened the bottle and started to pour herself a drink when Shizune popped her head in through the doors.

"Tsunade-sama, the Kirirepresentativeis here to see you about the encounter with the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu." Tsunade pouted, she was in the mood for a break right now, not more dilly-dallying with politicians. She shrugged, like it or not the representative (and therefore work) came before any 'me' time.

"All right, Shizune, let him in." she replied, while bring out an extra sake dish. It was only the polite thing to offer her distinguished guest some as well. When Shizune open the door to let the representative, Tsunade was shocked. She had expected one of two things, either A, a pompous (and most likely fat) politician with an ego the size of the hokage monument, or B, a senior shinobi who would be all business and no fun at all. Instead, imagine her surprise when in walked a man with the grace of a shinobi and a face that, when he smiled, would cause ladies to swoon. There was something else as well, the man's eyes never wandered to her chest like most peoples did; his eyes were always locked with hers. After Shizune closed the door behind him, the man bowed.

"Hokage-sama, I am Shashu, let me say it is an honor to finally meet you in person" Tsunade only smiled in return and motioned for him to take a seat. _'Good looks, a wonderful voice, _and_ manners, it's a wonder that girls aren't dropping form left and right, if I was about 30 years younger I know I would be.'_ Tsunade thought.

"Thank you, Shashu-dono, have a drink and tell me how things are in Kiri these days?" Taking the drink, Shashu said:

"I don't know and frankly don't care" before downing the drink in one gulp. This immediately set off warning bells in Tsunade's head, she opened he mouth to speak but was abruptly cut off.

"I know what you're going to say Lady Tsunade, and I would like it if you would hold your questions until I explain. You should consider yourself lucky that my associates and I managed to intercept your message before it got to Kiri, otherwise the Mizukage would be knocking on your doorstep right now with a battalion of his best shinobi to back him up, peace treaties be dammed." Shashu leaned back, steepeling his fingers in front of his mouth. Tsunade was put off, this man was obviously not associated with Kiri, and if what he was implying was true then Kiri was willing to go to war over something involving the seven shinobi swordsmen of the mist (because that is the reason she sent a letter to Kiri in the first place).

"All right wise guy, start talking, mind you that if I'm not satisfied I'll throw you in an ANBU cell myself." She said, putting on her best 'game' face. Shashu only grinned and put his hands in his lap before leaning forward.

"Then prepare yourself, Lady Hokage, for a tale that very few have the honor of hearing, and one that very few dare believe, but is entirely true…" he said, as his grin evolved into a full blown smile.

Opening the door, Naruto watched the steam billow out of his shower. Walking out whilst drying himself off with a towel, he couldn't believe how good he felt after washing his hair with shampoo, it felt oh-so-light and silky now. The moment he walked through the door he had emptied out his back pack and shopping bags before putting away a few things and setting out his new clothes. He was very happy with his purchases; Kaito had found a burnt orange headband-belt for his hitai-ate that perfectly matched the color of the lining of his new outfit. The new head band that he got to hold back his hair was cool as well, it's primary color was black while the front side of the headband had an interlock 'S' shapes in an alternating white and silver color. The shin guards were top quality, they were ultra light and had added protection for the top of his foot while leaving his toes open, and didn't restrict his flexibility or movement. Kaito had suggested that he get a pair of open healed sandals like Kakashi sensei wore to further increase his flexibility. Naruto had whole-headedly agreed.

In addition to the purchases for his new outfit, Naruto had bought some other shinobi equipment that he had needed; solider pills, blood clotting pills, first aid field kit, a spool of the highest grade of ninja wire, more explosive tags, flash bombs, some blank scrolls and writing equipment, a book on basic sealing so he could carry things around like Tenten, to some other little accessories a shinobi might need. Putting those thoughts aside for the moment, he finished drying his hair and put the towel he was using around his waist. Taking a spare towel from the rack, he wiped the fog off the mirror; he wanted to see how his hair looked now. The moment he saw his reflection in the mirror, he froze.

What a difference a single bottle of shampoo can make.

When he used soap, his hair clumped into thick spikes, now, because of the shampoo, his hair was in thinner, natural spikes. If he thought he looked similar to the Yondaime before, now he could say that he was a dead ringer for him at his age. The only difference between the two was that Naruto's side burns weren't as long and his eyes weren't as narrow as the Yondaime's. Naruto could only stare in amazement; heck, besides the previous mentioned differences, and the whisker marks, he was literally a clone of the Yondaime. Shrugging his shoulders and a muttered 'cool' later, Naruto left his bathroom and exchanged his towel for a pair of green boxers with orange squiggles on them.

Looking to his bed, Naruto grinned. Before going to bed, he decided to try on his new outfit at least once to make sure everything fit (and to see how cool he looked in them). Tying his new headband in place, he put on the pants that Karashi included with the out fit. The pants were a sandy tan color and were tighter than what he normally wore, not by much, but still enough for him to notice a difference. The ends of pants weren't loose enough to require tapping down with bandages so, instead, he slipped on his new sandals and snapped the shin guards into place. Getting up and walking around his bedroom, Naruto had to admit it felt a bit weird, the way the shin guards griped his leg and the feel of the air on his heels. Bouncing from one foot to the other Naruto admired the new found flexibility that the sandals and armor afforded him. He ended up performing a spinning round-house kick that, unfortunately, ended up connecting with one of the bed posts. The Good news? His leg didn't hurt at all and his armor didn't even a dent or scratch on it from the impact. The Bad News? His bed post now had a big f-ing crack in it.

Putting both feet on the floor, (and telling himself to calm down a little) Naruto secured his Kunai/shuriken holster to his right leg before doing the same for his newly bought 'scroll holster' on his left. The scroll holster was simply a larger version of his kunai holster that was meant to carry large round objects. In this he placed his spool on Ninja wire and a special scroll that was a scroll, brush, and ink well all in one. The other reason he put the scroll holster on his left was that he realized that he naturally did some things with his left as he did with his right. He sighed, now came the tough part: doing the 'bandage shirt'. It was his good fortune that he and Karashi thought alike and the instructions were easy to follow and in a little under fifteen minuets he had the shirt done. Naruto swung his arms in large circles, testing the tightness of the bandages. Amazingly, it wasn't all that tight, and it felt really weird when he moved in certain directions. He shrugged, nothing he can really do about it, he would just have to get used to it.

'_Now for the fun part'_ he thought, looking at his bed. There, lying on top of the bed was his newhitai-ate-belt, the asymmetrical robe/shirt, and the gloves. Before he took his shower, he had remover the metal plate of the hitai-ate Iruka-sensei had given him and attached it to the belt, whilst keeping the original head band as a keepsake. As he put on the robe/shirt, he noticed some alterations that Karashi had made; he had reduced the collar so he could clearly see over his shoulder and had widened the sleeve opening to give it a more mystic feel, in addition to adding a small pocket inside of the sleeve that could hold at most a pocket note pad. After tying off the belt and putting on the gloves, he walked over to the full body length mirror.

Looking at his reflection, Naruto let his hands fall to his sides and his grin melt off his face. While he would never say it out loud, he could now admit that he not only looked like, but now felt like a serious shinobi; not like an ignorant child running around in bright orange. Turning back to his bed, he set his eyes upon the final addition to his change. The OoburiFutago. Picking up the blades, Naruto admired their balance and weight. He thought it was odd how comfortable and natural in felt for him to hold them; he thought it should have been like the bandage shirt, awkward at first, then slowly getting used to it over time. Shaking his head, he gave the blades a twirl so that he held them in a reverse grip before sliding them into his belt. Unlike Raiga, who was both taller and bigger than him, Naruto didn't push the blades all the way to the hilt; instead, he stopped once he reached the second claw. Now that was done there was one last thing; the first Hokage's necklace. Putting it on, Naruto turned to the mirror before crossing his arms.

If some one were to compare the Naruto of that morning to the Naruto of right now, it would be like looking at night and day. The Naruto that everybody knew was full of bright colors, loudness, a carefree attitude and a desire to become Hokage so he could be recognize as the best, who would boast his skills to anyone and everyone. This Naruto, on the other hand, was calm, cool, collected, approachable but cautious, more humble, yet exuded an aura of seriousness, but was still willing to put everything on the line for those precious ones.

He remembered one of his very first precious people, on he had almost forgotten, an old caretaker that took care of him when he was in the orphanage, a beautiful brown haired lady with odd purple markings on her cheeks who always wanted him to call her 'Rin-neechan.' She had taken care of him until he was four and then Sarutobi had given him his apartment and told him that when he was six he would be eligible to enter the academe program. Of course at the time he didn't understand much of what Hokage-jiji said at the time besides the fact that he could got to the academe. In those two years before the academe, he had trained his butt of when he wasn't pranking and had essentially forgotten Rin-neechan. _'I'll have to see if she is still around, and if she is, say I'm sorry for forgetting her. I know she wouldn't have forgotten me.'_

He turned to start taking his equipment off when he realized with a start that he couldn't move. His body refused to respond to his commands. Before he could resist further, his vision was filled with a bright flash of light before he found him self no longer inside his apartment. Now he was in his mindscape. Now Naruto normally wasn't prone to swearing, but now seemed like a very good time to do so.

"Ah, FUCK, now what?!"

"Come" A voice commanded, or rather, two voices. Naruto recognized them immediately; they were the voices from his dreams. He went through a weapons check before confronting the voices: Swords? No, missing, along with his kunai. Claws? No, didn't work. _'Well,'_ Naruto figured, _'At least I have my Taijutsu'_ as he walked down the halls of his sub-conscious to the location he knew the voices were coming from. As he walked, he noticed something different about his mindscape, it appeared as though the water had cover the floors had been receding, and it was almost completely dry now. As he rounded the corner into the seal, he paused. There, standing before the cage was the two figures, watching him. But this time they were no longer wreathed in shadow. The one on the left was definitely a man; from head to foot he was clad in samurai armor. The armor it's self was a dark grey with silver thunder clouds highlighting it. He even had the classic samurai helmet with the decorative horns; the only part of his skin that was showing was a small strip around his eyes. Coiled around his right arm was a long spiked chain.

The figure on the right standing about in the middle of the room was most definitely female. Unlike her companion, her armor was cut down for speed, leaving her midriff, biceps, and thighs completely exposed. Her helmet was also cut down and the decorative horns were styled as two lighting bolts sweeping back over her head. Her left gauntlet had some sort of latch like thing on it. Before he could make any more observations, the female spoke as she and her companion lock their eyes with his, and both figures had eyes the color of polished steel**.**

"You found us" she sounded almost happy, or relived for some reason. As both figures started walking towards him Naruto shouted.

"Who are you?" This time it was the man that spoke up, and his gruff voice sounded very similar to Zabuza's.

"You already know the answer to that question gaki (brat)" That's when Naruto noticed what hung on the figures' waists. Two very familiar blades.

**"**OoburiFutago…" The twin stopped in front of him and gave what he thought to be a smile, he really couldn't tell with those helmets.

"…But how?" he asked. To this the twins both put a hand on Naruto's shoulders.

"It is because we are living weapons, Naruto" the sister

"And we've chosen you to wield us" the brother

Before he could ask another question, he found himself back in his body, but no longer in his apartment. He was on the roof of his apartment complex. Hearing the deep roll of thunder, he looked to the sky. There, directly above him, the storm clouds were rotating like a hurricane with him at the center. Bolts of lightning raced across the sky from one part of the clouds to the other. The OoburiFutago spoke to him

'_Now Naruto, take us...' _the sister spook, only to be finished by the brother. It continued this way as they spoke

'…_and raise us to the sky'_

'_Search deep inside of your self…'_

'…_there you will find what you want.'_

'_Now raise us…'_

'…_AND SHOUT OUT OUR NAMES!'_

Raising them above his head, Naruto suddenly _knew_. As if it had been a part of him sense birth, he knew their names. And so, he shouted their names for the world to hear.

"Inadzuma… Jinrai… _HADOU _(surge)!"

Lighting bolts from all across the sky raced to a single point above Naruto's head before converging and lashing down to touch their newest master.

Tsunade rubbed her forehead, attempting to quell the coming headache. However the headache wasn't caused by the sake that she and Shashu had been drinking, but by Shashu himself and the information he had provided.

"Alright, let me see if I got this right; first off you, Shashu, are the 'Lord Marshal' or in other words the head of your organization simply called the 'Templar'. Do I have it right?"

"That is correct, Tsunade-sama," replied Shashu, before taking another drink of sake. So far he had consumed at least there bottles of the rice wine and showed no signs of getting drunk. "Membership in the group is hereditary and my position in particular is an elected by the current members of the Templar. The goal of our group is simple: ensure that the blades of the seven souls do not fall into the hands of the evil or the corrupt. The second duty of the Templar is to repair or re-forge the blades should they be damaged or destroyed"

"OK, I'm with you so far, now what about the Mizukage…" Tsunade began only to be cut off by Shashu; it was his only bad habit.

"Instated the tradition of passing the swords down from master to apprentice to cut my organization out completely and prevent the swords from ever leaving Kiri's possession altogether. So, in response, the Templar began using whatever means necessary to retrieve the blades when their masters fell or were about to pass the blades on and return them to Temple of the Seven Souls."

Tsunade nodded her head; nobody liked being cut out of the loop, the reasons being good or ill. That was one of the problems Narutos' father, Minato, encountered when he tried to streamline the Konoha political machine.

"Could you give me another example of the Mizukages' actions that were in violation of your agreement?" She asked, for during his narrative Shashu had mentioned and explained the agreement the Templar had with Kiri. One of the details that had intrigued her was the fact that if a sword 'chose' a shinobi that wasn't from Kiri then the remaining swords (and swords currently in use after their wielders deaths) would be transferred to the country of the new wielders origin.

"The most obvious violation that comes to mind is the theft of the incomplete blade known as 'Kubikiri Houcho.' The blade was actually a replacement that we forged after the destruction of another. The spirit of the destroyed sword returned to the temple to inform us of what happened and we proceeded to forge a new sword before Kami forced the spirit to depart to the afterlife."

"The Mizukage, being a member of theKiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu and a holder of one of the blades, was present during the forging and, when we were about to begin the ceremony to re-connect the soul to its' new blade 'body' he attacked, killing one and critically wounding the other Templar members. Since the soul's new body was stolen it was forced to pass in to the afterlife. When we recovered enough to make the trip to Kiri to demand the Kage return the blade, he gave us an ultimatum: swear undying loyalty to Kiri, or else."

"I bet that went over well," Tsunade said sarcastically.

"It actually did in fact, I showed the Mizukage we would take the 'or else' path by blowing the head of one of his swordsmen off before taking the soul blade in his position back to the temple to be protected" Shashu replied offhandedly.

Tsunade felt a shiver run done her spine at how offhandedly he mentioned blowing the head off one of the swordsmen. Clearing her throat, she decided to change the topic.

"So exactly how many of the swords do you have safe then?" she asked

"Currently, three of the seven. The four that we don't have in our possession are Uzumaku Dokuhane held by the Mizukage Yagura; Samehada which is currently wielded by Kisame Hoshigaki; Kubikiri Houcho formally wielded be the late Zabuza Momochi; and finally, the Ooburi Futago, the most powerful of the seven," at this point the rather neutral look that had dominated Shashu's features morphed into a grin and said, "which, if I'm not mistaken, and I'm not, currently resides in this city either knowingly or unknowingly in the possession of one of the genin that was part of the team that slayed Raiga."

This sent Tsunade for a loop, one of her genin had the swords? And not only that, but the fact that the swords in their possession were the strongest of them all scared her. She immediately ran through the mental list of who could have the swords and eliminate the ones who didn't. Neji and Tenten were out because Neji packed light and would have noticed and handed the blades over to her. If Tenten had them then Shashu wouldn't have been able to sense them since she sealed everything she had in her scrolls. So that left two possibilities: Naruto and Lee. If she was a betting woman, and she sure as hell was, she would place everything on Naruto having the blades. Before she could voice her concerns, Shashu waved her off.

"There's no need to fret Tsunade-sama, soon the Ooburi Futago shall finish their ceremony and the rest of the swords will be yours."

What ever response Tsunade had ready caught in her throat. _'Finish their ceremony? He makes it sound as if the swords were alive somehow…'_ She was broken from her thoughts by the sound of Shashu going 'tsk, tsk.'

"Tsunade, Tsunade, Tsunade, did you not listen to what I have told you? The only reason the genin would have the swords, knowingly or not, is if they were meant to be together," he said, leaning back in his chair and steepeling his fingers in front of his face, "In the 2000 years of the Templar's existence, the Ooburi Futago have only had _four_ other masters. The reason the twins are so picky in choosing a wielder is because they judge there potential masters based on their heart and dedication. For a shinobi as young as the one who has been chosen to have such qualities, had to of grown up in an environment that promoted great freedom. This is something that Kiri has lost, but Konoha seems to have in spades. I believe that your Sandaime Hokage had a phrase for it, 'Will of Fire'?" he finished, looking out the side window.

Tsunade opened her mouth to speak when a clap of thunder and a wave of energy hit the Hokage tower. Since it had been storming recently, very loud thunder claps weren't uncommon, but this one was sounded like a bomb going off right next to the tower. That and the wave of energy was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was like an enormous pressure had suddenly placed upon her. It only lasted a second, but it was enough to give her a shock. Looking out the window, Tsunade saw a massive pillar of light piercing the clouds before hearing Shashu speak once more.

"A toast, Lady Tsunade," he said, raising his dish of sake; "to the _Konoha _no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu, the seven shinobi swordsmen of the leaf."

A legend had been born.

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Edit 9/16/09 WHile it did take me awile, I finally got around to fixing that data dump at the end, I hope that you enjoy the new end! R 'n R please!

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	3. Wake up Fox! Survival Time!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I will never own this great series, I am doing this for free, and for you enjoyment

Chapter 3: Wake up Fox! Survival Time!

_The Great Flame reflects upon_

_The keeper,_

_Whilst the fox awakes from his slumber_

_Before he can bear his new fangs,_

_He must take three kits to the mountain_

_To prove their worth_

"What a week, what a week," Tsunade said as she leaned back in her chair. On the night of the Ooburi Futago's awakening, about a quarter of Konoha lost power and suffered a blackout. Nobody was seriously hurt; unless you count the pride of a few shinobi who crashed into walls or fell into alleys when they respectively either lost their vision or were rubber-necking when they saw the flash of light.

Naruto was currently in the hospital with higher-than-normal sub-conscious brain activity, and had been for the last three days.

_flashback_

When Tsunade had gotten over the shock of the energy wave passing over her, she bolted straight out the office window with Shashu hot on her heels. She was rather impressed that the young man could keep pace with one of the legendary Sannin, but she quickly dismissed the thought. Arriving at the pillar of light, she discovered that about a dozen ANBU had tried to enter it to get to Naruto, but they had been blasted back. They weren't hurt, just numbed for a few hours.

This had nearly sent her into a panic attack, since it was Naruto in the middle of the light, and nobody could get to him, Shashu was being oddly calm about the entire thing, as if he expected it to happen. About fifteen minutes later, the light died down, and they retrieved Naruto.

_end flashback_

What ever Naruto or the Ooburi Futago did caused him to fall un-conscious while standing up. However, before he could collapse, Tsunade was there to catch him. When he fell into her arms, she had noticed three trails of steam coming from Naruto's clothes.

She had been surprised, not only by the steam and his new clothes, but how he looked up close. He looked so much like his father that she let out an un-intentional murmur of "Minato?"

Fortunately for her, the ANBU that heard were unquestioningly loyal, and wouldn't utter a word to anybody. Shashu, who had stuck to her like her shadow, she wasn't too sure about. He just acted like he didn't hear a thing. While she wasn't sure of what he would do, _she_ was sure of her duty to her village and her patients. She gave orders to the ANBU to take their stunned members with them and escort her to the hospital, before discreetly signaled Tenzo, the captain of the ANBU, to keep a close watch on Shashu.

When she got Naruto to the hospital, she had a chance to relax and see what Naruto was wearing. He appeared to be fully loaded, as he had kunai, shuriken, and even shin guards. She had to admit, the outfit he was wearing was a definite improvement from the orange monstrosity of a jumpsuit he normally wore.

When she caught him, she had made note of where the steam had been coming from. Two had come from his hitai-ate, which now sported a pair of lightning bolt engravings flanking both sides of the leaf symbol. The third, and largest, trail of steam had come from the large dull golden image that now adorned his shirt/robe on the front and back of the left side. It also included his left sleeve up to the elbow.

The image was of a fox; a long eared, three tailed, stylized kitsune. The front of the fox started on the front of the shirt and wrapped around the back where two of the tails arched over his shoulder and down his sleeve. When the two tails reached his shoulder, they took on the appearance of lightning bolts. The third tail coiled into a spiral on the center of his back. The residual chakra in the image was proof that the Ooburi Futago was the cause.

_flashback_

"…_it appears as though the twins want him to use his burden as part of a symbol for what he now is." He said, letting his fingertips trace the kitsune pattern on his clothes. Tsunade did a double take. How on earth did he know that?! The secret of Naruto's status as the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko was considered a triple S-class secret to foreigners. If someone had let that information slip…However, before she could voice her concerns, Shashu waved her off with a disarming smile._

"_Do not fret, Tsunade-sama, I have been trained to detect the spirit swords, even when they wish _not _to be not found. Due to this, it is a rather simple task of detecting a sealed entity like the Kyuubi. No, I do not hate the boy for his burden. In fact, it helps explain why the Ooburi Futago are taking so long to perform their alterations." He said, looking back down at Naruto._

"_What alterations?" Tsunade really didn't like the sound of this tid-bit of information. Shashu merely shook his head._

"_It's not as bad as you think it is. The Ooburi Futago are merely adding the lightning element to his charka, as well as repairing any damage done to his body and any damage the fox inflicted on his mind since birth."_

"_Wait, what damage? The seal is perfect. The fox couldn't have hurt him, even if-" she was abruptly cut off when a wave of intense, crushing pressure; more intense than earlier, slammed into her. This time, she could tell where it was coming from, and it was coming from Shashu._

"_Spiritual pressure, as you can no doubt feel, Tsunade-sama, can bypass even the greatest, most complex seals, and wreak havoc on a person's mind. Unless the sealed demon cooperates with the host, then the jinchuuriki will suffer some sort of mental handicap or deficiency, like Gaara's insomnia in addition to the Shukaku's whisperings."_

_As if a switch had been flipped, the pressure surrounding Tsunade vanished, leaving her gasping for air. "I am actually quite impressed with the young lad's accomplishments. But, then again, the Kyuubi probably helped him so they both could survive."_

_Catching her breath, Tsunade had to admit, despite his peaceful looks and demeanor, Shashu was a deadly opponent. To be able to render a Sannin like herself utterly defenseless with merely a glance spoke of great power, and deadly skill. She hoped beyond hope to never call Shashu an enemy. She shook her head to clear it of such thoughts._

"_So, again, what alterations are the swords making?"_

"_Well, each sword does its own 'alteration'. Usually, it's just forming a mental bond, in addition to healing any physical, or mental, deficiencies. Also, the Ooburi Futago will add the lightning element to his chakra nature so that he may utilize high level Ration jutsus with greater ease."_

"_So Naruto's a lightning type now?" Shashu shook his head._

"_No. He simply has lightning _in addition_ to his original element. Let's say he was originally a water type. If you were to test him now, he would have two elemental affinities: water _and_ lightning."_

_end flashback_

After Shashu had explained the situation, Tsunade did what she could to make Naruto comfortable. She also preformed a complete check-up, or as close as she could to complete, considering the fact that he was unconscious.

Besides the higher than normal brain activity, he was completely healthy. Shashu had further demonstrated his proficiency with the ninja arts by utilizing Kuchiyose no Jutsu to summon a badger wearing a knitted cap and a blue backpack to watch over Naruto. This was to make sure nobody tried to steal the Ooburi Futago.

After securing the room against intruders, she and Shashu retired to the office of the Hokage tower to discuss the transfer of the remaining soul blades to Konoha, and to set up a new location for their 'temple of seven souls'. Tsunade decided that the old Uchiha district, since it was no longer in use, would be razed to so they could not only have the room, but privacy for their temple.

The next day, however, things decided to get hairy. _Somebody_ leaked to the council that Naruto was now in position of one of the legendary blades, and that the other swords were coming to Konoha. Tsunade and Shashu had literally been dragged into the council chambers by Danzo's 'Root' ANBU.

When they arrived, Danzo and his like-thinking council members filibustered the village council by drafting a document that dictated the way the swords would be distributed to the shinobi forces. Whenever someone tried to object to the conditions, or try and get on the arrogant fools cases, Danzo quickly admonish the members that spoke up for '_disrupting the infinite wisdom of the council with mindless talk about subjects that do not pertain to our current discussion.'_

Some of the things that the (clearly) corrupt council members added on were ludicrous; like, _'those that possess a demon's soul cannot wield any of the swords, and must turn said weapons over to the council to be given to a more deserving ninja'_ and so forth.

With each act they passed, Shashu's eyebrow, which had been twitching in annoyance, developed even more violent spasms.

The last straw came when Danzou suggested that the two most powerful swords be turned over to the ANBU for their use. He would have no doubt have influenced the decision so that his 'Root' ANBU, who weren't even supposed to exist anymore, would receive the blades. Danzo was just about to call it to a vote when Shashu snapped, and lived up to his name…

_flashback_

…_The council chamber had gone deathly quiet. Danzo had been about to call a vote when a loud duo of 'Wha-chink's sounded. Two arrows, both made of translucent green energy, had imbedded themselves in the wall, each less then a hairs-breadth from the sides of Danzo's head. Both had come from the glowing bow that Shashu held in his left hand. A thin trail of steam rose from his right hand. _

_Nobody but Tsunade had seen the motion of Shashu manifesting and firing the deadly weapon. It was quite obvious from his expression that he was not amused._

"_No Deal." He said, before rotating his wrist palm up before opening his hand. His bow exploded into steam to further punctuate his no-nonsense tone. Before any of the council members could speak, a familiar pressure fell upon those present. Since Tsunade had been exposed to it twice in the last 24 hours, she had gotten used to it, but since this was the first time the council had felt it, it had the desired effect._

"_I did not come to Konoha to simply trade one tyrant for another. Besides, your debating is a moot point, since Hokage-sama has already singed an agreement pertaining to the swords." He looked around, making note of the council members that hadn't taken part in Danzo's little scheme, before letting the pressure off of those members._

"_You are attempting to meddle in that which you do not understand. The blades _choose_ their masters, _not_ the other way around! The reason Kisame Hoshigaki is so powerful, and is thus considered an S-class ninja, is because Samehada _chose_ him as its master; Raiga was not, and as a result, was driven insane by the power of the blades." Shashu let up on the pressure a bit, hoping that his display of power would force them to remain quiet._

"_These swords are not mere tools to be used and passed around. No, they are much more. They are ALIVE. They have feelings, they think, they learn, they have pride. To try and force them would only result in the blades weakening the ones they are forced to work with." He finished, finally letting the pressure fade completely._

_Danzo__u started sputtering, and was about to demand that ANBU arrest Shashu, when a chakra-empowered fist struck the table, and by extension, shook the room._

"_ENOUGH, DANZO! One more peep out of you, and I'll have you sent to Ibiki for this little stunt you pulled. Council privileges be damned! The council will not alter the agreement; it has been signed, and is _final_. Shizune, please pass out the information. Once you have read the information, we will take a vote." About twenty minutes later, all of the councilors had read the information and were ready to vote._

"_OK then, since this is a rather unique meeting, we'll start off with those against."_

_Danzo inwardly smiled. He was the one who held the power on the council. After the agreement was dismissed, he could have his 'Root' ANBU 'convince' this __foreign fool to hand over all the swords and steal the blades that the Kyuubi brat had, and make his 'Root' invincible. Opening his eye, he paused; except for the small few civilian members that he had under his thumb, none of the others had raised their hands. _'What's going on here?'_ he thought._

"_All for?"_

_Immediately, all the hands that had been down went up. Danzo panicked. How could this be happening? Then his gazed wandered over to his partners, and froze. Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, the Third Hokage's former team mates, and his long time supporters, were voting _against him!

"_We have a clear majority, so, motion passed. Council dismissed!"_

_end flashback_

…Tsunade chuckled, remembering the look on Danzo's face when he realized that his two greatest supporters had left him out to dry. Homaru and Koharu had explained to her later that the reason that they went with the agreement was that since the soul blades were the basis for the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu, merely having them in Konoha's possession would be the boon they needed after the loss of the Uchiha clan and the Sand/Sound attack.

In addition, Homaru and Koharu would re-divert funds that had originally been destined for Danzo's 'Root', so that Tsunade could fund her own projects. While they held no animosity towards Naruto, they would readily admit to not doing any thing to help. That, and considering the fact that Naruto now held one of the soul blades, meant he was in a position of power that they could now support.

She sighed as she looked out the window. Shashu had said that it would take some time for his associates to prepare the temple for transport, whatever that meant, and would contact her when they were ready. She wondered how Naruto was doing…

* * *

Opening the door, Sakura couldn't help but sigh; she really didn't like this habit she had formed of visiting her male teammates in the hospital. The first two times, it had been Sasuke. Once, because his brother Itachi screwed with his mind. The second time was because of that Aoi Rokushou guy that zapped him with his Raijin sword.

Now, it was Naruto. The first time was after the failed mission to retrieve Sasuke. He had been done up with so many bandages that poor Hinata had fainted at the sight of him. At least this time he wasn't hurt, although she had to admit what ever Naruto did to his hair was definitely an improvement, and made him look more… what's the word? Cute? Handsome? Mature? Yes that's it. Mature. Hinata would faint all the same, because, to her at least, Naruto would look even better. She glared at the creature lying on the bed side cabinet.

The same could not be said about Naruto's 'room mate'.

When Tsunade-shishou assigned her to look over Naruto, she had checked the room over, and found that someone had left a pair of sword and clothes that definitely didn't belong to Naruto there. But, when she tried to remove said items, a badger, toting a blue backpack, nearly took her hand off. And to add insult to near injury, the summoned creature had the gall to claim that the weapons and clothes were Naruto's! Yeah, right! Like Naruto would ever make such a drastic change… or, at least, she thought he wouldn't.

While she would never admit it out loud, Sakura hated it when things made big changes. Gradual changes were fine, but big, drastic changes disturbed her. Like when Sasuke went through that sadistic streak in the Forest of Death during the Chuunin exams. Such changes in the people she knew scared her to no end. So, while it was very selfish of her, she secretly hoped that Naruto didn't make the extreme change the badger said he made.

She wanted Naruto to always be the bright, loud boy that constantly asked her out on dates and wore bright orange. She had accepted, however, that Naruto had always been stronger than her. So, in hopes that Naruto had not changed, she went to his apartment and got a spare set of his orange jump suits.

Sitting down next to his bed, she leveled her worst glare at the badger. The summoned animal stopped molding the wad of clay that he had pulled out of his back pack to return the glare in the way only a badger could. If one were to look at the two, they would see lightning sparks between summoned animal and kunoichi. It continued like this for who-knows-how long, when both were broken out of their glaring contest when Naruto started to stir before opening his eyes.

"Naruto! You're awake!" Sakura shouted. It wasn't as enthusiastic as when Sasuke woke up for the first time, but at least she was excited. I mean, after watching him do nothing but breathe for three days, it was an improvement. These kinds of big changes she liked.

The badger, seeing that his charge was now awake, tossed the wad of clay he was molding back into his backpack. Pulling him self upright, Naruto gave his team-mate a sincere smile. This brought Sakura up short; never in all the time that she knew Naruto did he ever give anyone a _truly_ sincere smile. With him, it was always that happy-go-lucky, idiotic grin or that cheesy-but-obviously-fake smile. Now, Naruto was showing his true self, the one he had hidden beneath the mask of blatant foolishness and idiocy. The mask had finally shattered, and the Naruto that had hidden himself away from the chronic emotional abuse of the villagers was now showing his face once more.

"Hey, Sakura" he said. His voice lacked it usual spastic energy, yet it still relayed his smile he wore, while not as big as his usual ones, seemed more natural than before. When he looked at her, his eyes seemed more intense as well. After pulling himself up right, but before he started speaking again, Sakura had one thought. _'Oh yeah, Hinata's definitely going to faint if she sees him now.'_

"Sakura, did Tsunade-baachan say anything about me being able to leave, or am I going to have to wait till she clears me?" he asked.

Sakura broke from his gaze at the question. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell him, it was just what Tsunade-shishou had told her was, well, odd. Usually, she or Shizune would be called in to keep Naruto from leaving the hospital prematurely. But not this time. This time, he was free to leave after he did one thing.

"Well, not really. Tsunade-sama just wanted me to make sure you did this one thing before you left."

"Oh, alright. If that's all, could I have my clothes back first?" It went without saying that nobody liked the open-backed hospital gowns.

"Sure thing. Got it right here," Sakura replied taking out his orange jumpsuit. Whatever smile that graced Naruto's features dropped as his eyes switched between looking at the atrocious orange jumpsuit and Sakura, before finally settling on Sakura, giving her the infamous 'do I look like an idiot?' look.

Meanwhile, Sakura was sweating up a storm. Here was the proof: before, Naruto was synonymous with Orange. The fact that he wasn't accepting his usual jumpsuit was proof he had changed like the badger said he did. It was at this point that said badger decided to speak up.

"Oy! Quite fooking around with dee lads' head, pinky! Your clothes are over 'ere, along with ya blades, mon" Naruto looked behind him at the badger, before nodding.

In the life of a ninja, one lived by the rule 'expect the unexpected'. So, Naruto took the fact that a badger was talking to him in stride. After shooing Sakura away so he could have some privacy, Naruto started getting dressed, enjoying the alteration the twins did to his new wardrobe, before mentally calling out to the Ooburi Futago.

'_Inadzuma, Jinrai, can you guys hear me?'_

'_I can hear you, Naruto-kun.'_

'_Loud and clear brat. Loud and clear'_

The time he spent 'unconscious' wasn't wasted; he had been deep in his mindscape, talking and learning with the Ooburi Futago. While he had been dead to the world for about three days, inside his mind, he had spent about the equivalent of about a week interacting with the twins. And, because of this, he had come to a greater level of understanding of not only them, but himself as well.

The sister, Inadzuma, or as she liked to be called, 'Zuma, had a cheery and up-beat attitude. When she spoke to him or her brother, she was casual unless the situation called for it, that and she always called him 'Naruto-kun'.

Jinrai, or just 'Rai, was a lot like Zabuza. He was always straight and to the point, no nonsense what-so-ever. That, and he always called him 'Naruto' or 'brat'. He never used any suffixes.

It was during this time that the twins forced him to come to terms with something about himself. Something that, in the beginning, he didn't want to believe: he truly didn't love Sakura. At least, not in any romantic sense.

He still loved her, though, just not in the way he originally thought. Deep down, he realized that the feelings he had for her were of the brother/sister type love, when he tried to argue that Sakura did indeed love him more than that, it was shot down by the twins. When he mentioned the date that they had before Sasuke left as proof, the twins had shown him what had happened during the so called 'date'.

It had never truly been a 'date'. For Sakura, it was merely a distraction from what was happening with Sasuke. She didn't even really interact with him at all during that time. Faced with that, and all the other memories the twins pulled up, Naruto was forced to accept the fact that his love for her could never progress beyond brotherly love.

Naruto accepted that when he was younger, he was always starved for attention. The main reason he pulled pranks was to get reactions out of people, to get them to notice him. And he always got a response out of Sakura. Granted, it was never a positive response, and more often than not, a rather painful one, but a response nonetheless. She was the brightest girl in the class, and the part of him that was his mask realized that he could get attention from her, even if it did end up hurting him more in the end.

Sliding the Ooburi Futago into his belt, Naruto sighed. Now, everything finally felt right, his mind had been healed by the twins, and his memories were now at his fingertips. For once in his life he could truly _think_. His mind was no longer dominated by his next ramen meal, or simply wanting to learn new jutsu. Now he could think and analyze, he could observe, he could watch and in complete twist of his character, wait, plan and organize. For once in his life, his mind was whole. Pushing back the curtain, he stepped out and locked eyes with Sakura.

"Sakura, could you tell me what it is exactly that baa-chan wanted me to do before I could leave?"

Sakura was a bit stunned. Sure, looking at the clothes on the bed was one thing. But seeing Naruto actually wearing them was another. Naruto looked… serious. Or… exotic… for a lack of a better term. His speech was a little more refined as well. The kitsune motif on the left lapel of his shirt was fitting as well, considering how fox-like Naruto acted some times. She shook her head. Now was not a time to be lost in thought.

"Um, ah, before you left, Lady Tsunade wanted you to channel some chakra through this piece of paper," she said, handing him the slip of parchment like paper. She knew what it was. It was a special kind of paper. The stuff that's used to determine a person's elemental affinity. What was so odd about this was why Sakura's teacher wanted to know, of all things, Narutos' elemental affinity.

Taking the chakra paper, Naruto adopted his new face of concentration. He closed his eyes and drooped his head a little. He then channeled his chakra towards the paper. He had learned from the Ooburi Futago that scrunching up his face actually made it harder for him to think. A loud 'rip' was heard, along with the sound of crinkling paper.

Opening his eyes, he saw that the card he had been holding had been transformed into two crumpled pieces of paper with him holding the corners. Looking to Sakura, he found that she seemed to have frozen with a stunned expression on her face. It was around this time that the forgotten badger summon decided to pipe in.

"Hehehe, I think ya broke her, mon. Toodles!" He said before vanishing with a muffled 'poof'. Naruto merely shrugged his shoulders before placing the used chakra paper on the bedside table. He then a muttered 'bye, Sakura-san.', before leaving.

Meanwhile, Sakura had been struck with a revelation.

Two elemental affinities. Not one, but _**two elemental affinities!**_ Naruto Uzumaki, the most unpredictable, knuckle-headed ninja, had **Two Elemental Affinities!!!** And not only that, but two very powerful affinities. One only need look at Temari's actions during the Sasuke retrieval mission, or Orochimaru's Fuuton: Daitoppa that he used during the second stage of the Chuunin exams, to demonstrate the power of a wind affinity.

As for lightning? Well, the Chidori and the Raikiri to summed up its power. It was around this time that 'Inner Sakura', Sakura's more 'expressive' personality, spoke up.

'_**Wait a minute! Sakura-san?!?!'**_

* * *

Amazing.

That was the only word in Naruto's limited vocabulary that could describe what he was seeing now. Before, his perception of the world was like looking through a foggy window. He could only focus on one thing at a time, and even then, he missed out on a lot of details. Now, it was if there was no window at all. He could see _everything_. He noticed things that would have escaped his notice before. He could focus on things to a greater degree, his mind could process information so much better and faster, that it was a bit disorienting. That, well, and the fact that the ends of the Ooburi Futago kept tapping against his heels was being a bit distracting.

'_Umm, Naruto-kun, not to sound rude or anything, but I think you're a little too short to draw us from your belt.'_

'_Zuma's right, brat. Head over to that leather worker shop, and see if you can have him make a back harness for us. Try to get it so that we're held in a 'V' pattern, instead of an 'X' pattern.'_

"_Nee-san's got a point Naruto-kun. A 'V' pattern would make it easer to draw just one of us, if need be, and you won't bang your heels anymore.' _Nodding, Naruto made his way over to the shop.

Arriving at the designated place, he could see racks out side displaying numerous leather-made items. From belts to pants, shirts, jackets and heavy-duty backpacks. The fact that they made backpacks interested Naruto, and the hooker was that there was a sign that said 'We Do Custom Work'.

Entering the shop Naruto looked around. He had to admit, whoever did the leather work certainly knew his stuff. There were items here made from all types a grades of leather, from expensive, finely crafted black leather jacket with studs, to simple belts and straps. Proceeding further into the shop, he came across a work bench, but nobody working at it.

"Um, hello? Anybody here?"

"Hang on a sec. I'll be right with ya!" came a voice from one of the back rooms. A few minutes later, the owner of the voice and, consequently, the maker of the fine leather products in the store, came out.

The man was of average height, but had large, broad shoulders. He was bald and had squinty eyes. He wore a white working apron over a green short sleeved shirt, a pair of rather plain brown pants, and a pair of thick leather gloves.

"What can I do for you, need a custom job done?"

"Yes, I do in fact," Naruto said before clearing his throat, "I need a back mount, or harness, for my swords. I need it so that the swords are in a 'V' pattern with the tips at the base of my spine."

Pausing for a moment, Naruto thought about what else he might need.

"I would also like to have a removable bag to attach to the harness. Finally, I would like some sort of locking mechanism, so that some one can't rip one of my swords off my back, and use them against me."

The worker nodded and took notes down in a small note book. After taking a few of Naruto's measurements, and the dimensions of his swords, he was on his way again with the promise that the harness would be done before the end of the day.

Naruto then proceeded to wander the streets of Konoha with no real goal in mind; he just walked and took in all the sensation that his new found senses could. His wandering eventually took him to the local park. Unlike the many training grounds, the central park was for civilian use. Sure, ninja could use it as well, so long as they kept their destructive practices to a minimum as so to not ruin the landscape or endanger the population of Konoha.

Sitting down on one of the benches, Naruto took a deep breath, before exhaling slowly. He felt wonderful, for the first time in his life, truly wonderful. Relaxing on the bench, Naruto thought about his goals, for what was life without some sort of meaning? His dream to be Hokage was the same as always. What had changed was the reason behind it. At first, it was to gain attention, and to make people respect him. But later, it changed because he wanted to protect his precious people. That remained the same, his other life goal on the other hand…

A scowl marred Narutos otherwise peaceful features, as his thought turned to his best friend turned traitor. The mere thought of Uchiha Sasuke caused a deep growl to escape from the depths of his throat, and a white hot surge of righteous fury to course through his veins. Maybe it was because of how he was brought up, or because of the blatant actions of the traitor Yakushi Kabuto, but one thing was certain. He _hated_ traitors, and that included Sasuke. Screw the promise to Sakura. Sure, he was going to bring the bastard back, but not for her. No, instead he would bring the scion of the Uchiha back to face justice for his crimes, his betrayal, and possibly, a life-long prison sentence.

Naruto took a deep breath before banishing those thoughts from his head. At least he was being realistic about these things. The Sasuke he knew was gone forever, replaced with the revenge-driven creature that was now in the hands of Orochimaru.

Reaching into his sleeve, he removed the small booklet on seals from the hidden pouch in the sleeve. The old Naruto would have no doubt found this text boring, and would have discarded it for something flashier to learn, but this Naruto knew that if he was to have any chance at surviving this wild and crazy world with the Akatsuki after him, he would have to learn all that he could. Slowly, but surely, Naruto became engrossed in the booklet.

What many people didn't know was the shear complexity of the art of seals. There was more to it than just putting squiggly lines on a scroll and having it do something. No, there was a method to the madness of sealing. In fact, the infamous explosive note was created by sheer accident when a seal maker tried to make a seal that would release a set amount of chakra into a tired ninja when he was in need of a boost. But, instead of releasing the chakra in a steady flow, it released it in a single large burst, and thus, the explosive note was born.

Time seemed to pass all too quickly for Naruto as he really got in to the text. What would seem like a massive disorganized puzzle to the average shinobi made perfect sense to Naruto. Before he could get started on the section that followed storage seals, he was interrupted by a chunin.

"Excuse me Naruto-san, but Hokage-sama wants to meet with you." Naruto looked up and nodded to signal that he got the message. The Chunin left via Shunshin no jutsu while Naruto placed the booklet back in the sleeve pocket. Creating a Kage Bunshin, he sent it off with his wallet. His clone would go get the harness if it was done while he went to see Rin-neechan.

* * *

Naruto silently drummed his fingers against his elbow as he waited outside of the Hokage tower. He had gotten Rin-neechan's address from Shizune-neechan when he was leaving the hospital. After he created his clone he paid her a visit. It was well worth it; Rin-neechan had been almost over excited to see him, and had forgiven him for forgetting with out a second thought. They spent some time talking before he had to leave for the Hokage tower. During their conversation, he discovered that she had retired form being a shinobi, but was still a doctor, so he could still visit her in the hospital every now and then. He let out a relived sigh as he saw his clone running towards him with the harness slung over his shoulder.

"Sorry I'm late boss, but the harness cost a little bit more than what you gave, me so I had to make an emergency stop by the bank." His clone said, tossing the harness and his frog wallet back before dispelling.

Naruto merely shook his head before taking the Ooburi Futago and latching them into the harness just as the leather worker showed him…

…_Wait a second!_

Naruto stopped, the second blade in hand. He had been with Rin-neechan when the clone had received the instructions on how to latch his uniquely shaped blades into the harness, and how to attach the removable backpack so that it would not get caught on the blades.

'_But how do I know that? I was with Rin-neechan the whole time so…" _Narutos' thoughts were interrupted when Inadzuma gave a giggle before answering.

'_I think we found a way for you to out do the Uchiha in training, Naruto-kun.'_

'_What do you mean, 'Zuma?'_

'_What I mean, Naruto-kun, is that what ever your kage bunshin learn, you learn when they dispel. Say for instance that you create a hundred clones and train in chakra control for an hour before you dispel them. It'd be as if you trained in chakra control for a hundred and one hours! Of course, this doesn't count for stuff like strength training, since the clones only send back their memories.'_

Naruto just nodded dumbly as he finished latching the Ooburi Futago into the harness. What Inadzuma had told him was big, considering the number of clones he could make. His training could accelerate ten fold easily!

As he snapped the harness into place, he had to admit it was well worth the price; the harness had three straps total, one that went around his waist and two emerged from the top of the harness near his neck, traveling down over the orange detailing of his shirt, before meeting with the waist strap just above the metal plate of his hitai-ate. All in all, the harness held on tight without compromising his range of motion. A smirk and a nod later, Naruto was off to Tsunade's office.

* * *

In the office of the Hokage, Tsunade looked at the eight genin in front of her. With all the excitement happening because of the soul swords, she had nearly forgotten about the survival test that she and the academy had set up.

From her left to her right was Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Chouji, Ino, Neji, Lee and Tenten. She had sent messengers out to gather the nine at different times so she could discuss with team Guy the recent events and information surrounding the Ooburi Futago. Their reactions were unique; Neji was surprised by the information provided by Shashu and was some what grateful that Naruto found the blades instead of him. Tenten was a bit put out until Tsunade mentioned that the blades were sentient, and the detrimental effects of trying to force the blades to work like Raiga did. She wasn't really sure what to feel now. On one hand, she was glad that the blades had chosen a master. On the other hand, she was a bit peeved that she, a weapons mistress, wasn't chosen.

Lee was, well, Lee. The moment she finished explaining what happened, he started to scream something about 'Glorious Springtime of Youth' or something, whilst crying and pumping his fist in the air.

That was a little while ago, now that team 8 and the remaining members of team 10 were here, all that remained was to wait for the only member of team 7 that was still on active duty. Sakura had seemed out of it for what ever reason the last time she saw her. She fingered the two crumpled pieces of chakra paper beneath her desk, Shashu had been right so far…

A knock on the door broke her train of thought.

"Enter" she said. The door opened and reveled Konoha's most unpredictable ninja, one Uzumaki Naruto.

"Oi, Baachan! Your messenger said you wanted to see me for some reason?"

Tsunade nodded, letting a small smile grace her features. His fake grin was gone, and in its place was a true, genuine smile. She felt happy that he was no longer hiding behind a mask of foolishness. The reactions of the rest of the genin were amusing to watch:

Tenten looked surprised, since she recognized the style of the uniform that Naruto was wearing.

Lee gave him the 'ping' smile and a thumbs up.

Neji had no real outward reaction other than to give him a measured look.

Ino was looking at Naruto, blinking, and rubbing her eyes every now and then because she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Chouji's hand stopped mid-way between his bag of chips and his mouth.

One of Shino's eyebrows were visible over his sunglasses.

Kiba gawked, whilst Akamaru slept on his head.

Hinata had the most extreme reaction, by far. Her eyes went wide, and her face turned a pretty shade of red before she fainted. The only thought that went through her mind was _'Naruto-kun… so… handsome…'_

Tsunade chuckled at the sight of the young Hyuga's reaction to seeing the 'updated' form of her crush.

"Since we're now all here we can get started. But first, Shino, please wake Hinata up if you would."

After Hinata was returned to the land of the living, and everybody was standing at attention, Tsunade began:

"The reason I have called you here is because, starting tomorrow, you will take part in an academy field training exercise," she paused, waiting for Naruto to explode or something considering that this exercise would take time away from his 'training'. Strangely enough, Naruto didn't, so Tsunade counted her lucky stars, and hoped that his good attitude continued.

"You will each take a squad of three genin hopefuls on a trip to the great boulder Warudaku on Mt. Takurami, following a route marked on a map that will be given to you that has been deemed safe. After going about eight to ten kilometers, you will find the teachers base camp, where you will receive a 'secret scroll', and then return it to the academy. The exercise will last a total of two days and one night. Along the way, there will be traps laid out, and some of the academy teachers will act as enemy ninja to attempt to interfere in your mission. All in all, this 'mission' will allow you to demonstrate to your academy group the skills in combat, tracking, and survival, _and_ since there is only one scroll, it will be a competition."

"So, basically, were going to be like Jonin instructors leading a genin team," Naruto said. That had Tsunade surprised, she had expected to put on some spiel about how this would be good training for a Hokage, but Naruto came up with a better parallel all on his own, and seemed to be accepting the task laid before him.

"Yes, I suppose it could be defined as that."

"Well, in that case, what limits are we going to have on Jutsus and what not?"

Tsunade's eyebrow arched, that was a very intelligent question from what was the academy 'idiot.' The healing done by the Ooburi Futago had no doubt helped him in that aspect as well.

"Well, considering that you and the students won't _truly_ be in any danger, I would say no lethal techniques like Rasengan, Hakke Rokujuuyonshou, or the Omote Renge. We don't want you killing the instructors, and just so you know, the use of animal familiars is allowed."

With that said Tsunade handed out sheets to the genin informing them of the members of their 'team'. Most of the genin either were excited, or had no real reaction to their assignment. Naruto's reaction was, of course, different. He took one look at the sheet before giving Tsunade a half-lidded look one normally found on Kakashi's masked face. On Narutos, it gave her the mental image of staring down a peeved fox.

"You hate me, don't you?"

"Oh, why is that?"

"The Konohamaru corps? That's an accident waiting to happen."

"Well, well, is that fear I'm hearing?" Naruto responded with a fox like grin, which subsequently caused Hinata to swoon.

"Well, _Tsunade-sama_, in the words of the great Yondaime, _bring it on_!"

Let the race begin.

* * *

Translations:

Kuchiyose no Jutsu – summoning technique

Shashu – Archer

Inadzuma – flash of lightning

Jinrai – thunderclap

Fuuton: Daitoppa – Wind style/release: Great Breakthrough

Chidori – Thousand birds

Raikiri – Lightning edge

Shunshin no Jutsu – Body Flicker Technique

Kage Bunshin – Shadow clone

Rasengan – Spiraling sphere

Hakke Rokujuuyonshou – Eight Divination Signs, Sixty-Four Palms

Omote Renge – Front (Primary) Lotus

* * *

AN: Long time no see. I was trying to pass my second smester classes, and then to top it off had trouble writing the second half. Thanks to my Beta ShadowFaux. BTW: should I keep the words _flashback_ / _end flashback_ or should I leave them out?


End file.
